Flush tank controls



Dec. 13, 1960 c. M. CARTER FLUSH TANK CONTROLS Filed Dec. 3, 1959INVENTOR/ CECIL MOFQJEN CART/ER AWORBEYS a u u United States Patent2,963,710 Patented Dec. 13, 1960 ire FLUSH TANK CONTROLS Cecil MordenCarter, 230 Park Ave., Newmarket, Ontario, Canada Filed Dec. 3, 1959,Ser. No. 857,175

Claims. (Cl. 4-67) This invention relates to a control for a flush tankof a toilet. The invention relates more particularly to a control whichis operable either to allow discharge of the complete contents of theflush tank into the toilet or to allow discharge of only part of thecontents of the tank into the toilet. Such an arrangement finds utilitywhere water is scarce and/or Where septic tanks are in use.

It is an object of the invention to provide an extremely simple controlwhich may be fitted to existing flush tanks in place of a conventionalcontrol without requiring modification of the tank or valve structure.

Various proposals have been made for dual flush controls in the past butthe majority of these have required either modification of the flushtank or a complicated system of dual valves within the tank. The presentinvention uses the valve system conventionally installed in the tank anddoes not require modification of the conventional tank structure.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference tothe accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevation, partly broken away, of a flush tankincorporating the control according to the invention,

Figure 2 is a horizontal section through the control of Figure l withparts thereof in their first positions,

Figure 3 is a vertical section of the control of Figure 2 with partsthereof in their first positions,

Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Figure 3,

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 3 but showing parts of the controlin their second positions and Figure 6 is a section on the line 66 ofFigure 5.

Referring now to Figure 1, a flush tank is indicated generally at 10 andhas a bottom 11, side walls 12, a front wall 13 and a lid 14. A waterinlet pipe 16 is provided and the inlet of water is controlled by aconventional ball valve, not shown. An outlet pipe 17 leads to the bowlof the toilet and is secured in the bottom wall 11 by means of a sleeve18 and a nut 19. Washers 20 are interposed between the sleeve and thebottom wall 11 and between the nut 19 and the wall 11 to providewatertight joints. The upper end of the sleeve 18 is flanged and isprovided with a conical valve seat 21. A conical valve 22 ofconventional design is arranged to co-act with the valve seat 21 and isoperated by a pair of rods 23, 24 and an arm 25 in conventional fashion.The rod 23 is journalled in a bracket 26 secured to an overflow pipe 27.The arm 25 is operated by a flush tank control indicated generally at28.

Referring now to Figure 2, the flush tank control 28 comprises a sleevemember 29 having a squared portion 30 which is received in the usualaperture 31 provided in the front wall 13 of the flush tank. The sleeve29 has a threaded shank portion 32 at its inner end and is provided, atits outer end, with a flange 33 and an abutment indicated generally at34. The sleeve member 29 is retained in position by a nut 36 threadablymounted on the shank 32 and a washer 35 is interposed between the flange33 and the front wall 13 of the flush tank.

Mounted in a bore 37 of the sleeve member 29 is a shaft 38; the shaft isfree to rotate in the bore 37 and also to slide axially therein. One endof the arm 25 is secured to the inner end of the shaft 38 by means of apin 39; the inner end of the shaft has a counter-bore 40 to receive theend of the arm 25. A washer 41 embraces the arm 25 and a cotter pin 42retains the washer 41 in position; the washer 41 and pin 42 limitmovement of the shaft 38 towards the outside of the tank.

The outer end of the shaft 38 is threaded at 43 and receives a handle 44having a hollow domed portion 45; the latter includes an internallythreaded sleeve 46 which receives the threaded outer end of the shaft38. The shaft 38 and handle 44 together constitute a handle memberindicated generally at 47. The domed portion 45 is provided with a pairof spaced radial ribs 48 and 49, seen best in Figures 3 and 4; the rib48 has an aperture 56 for a purpose hereinafter to be described. Acompression spring '51 is interposed between the flange 33 at the outerend of the sleeve member and the free end of the sleeve 46 and urges thehandle member 47 to a first position as shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4,movement of the shaft under the influence of the spring being limited bythe washer 41 co-acting with the inner end of the sleeve member 29.

The abutment 34 at the outer end of the sleeve member 29 includes aprojection 52 and a curved arm 53, seen best in Figures 3 and 4. Thecurved arm 53 is'so dimensioned as to be capable of passing through theaperture 50 in the rib 48 when the aperture is in register with the arm.The handle member 47 may be moved from the position shown in Figures 2,3 and 4 to the position shown in Figures 5 and 6 by pushing the handlemember towards the front wall 13 of the flush tank. In Figures 5 and 6the handle member 47 is in its second position and the abutment 53 is inregister with the aperture 50 and may pass therethrough.

The operation of the control will now be described. In normal flushtanks, when the valve has been raised to a certain extent it ismaintained in its raised position by the flow of water across itsundersurface. However, if the valve is not raised sufiiciently from itsseat for the flow across its underside to lift it, once the valve isreleased it will fall onto its seat and close the outlet pipe. Thearrangement provided by the present invention is such that in oneposition of the control the valve may be raised sufficiently high to bekept open by the flow of water across its underside, as in conventionalpractice, whereas in the second position the valve may only be raisedsufficiently high so that as soon as it is released it will descend ontothe valve seat. Thus in the first position of the handle member 47 asshown in Figures 2, 3 and 4, only limited rotational movement of the member is available. As the member 47 is rotated, the end of the curved arm53 will come into contact with the abutment constituted by the rib 48,since the arm 53 is out of register with the aperture 50 as shown inFigure 3, and rotation of the handle member and therefore movement ofthe arm 25 is limited by the co-action of the abutments 53 and 48.However, if the handle member 47 is now pushed towards the front Wall ofthe flush tank so that the handle member assumes its second position, asshown in Figures 5 and 6, the abutment 53 is in register with theaperture 58 and therefore upon rotation of the handle member theabutment passes through the aperture and so clears the abutment 48 sothat the valve 22 may be raised to a position in which flow of wateracross its underside keeps the valve open. In Figures 5 and 6 3 the endof the abutment 53 is shown as being received within the aperture 50.

The rotational movement of the shaft 38 permitted when the. handlemember 47 is in its first position is only sufiicient to raise the valve22 to permit water to flow out without supporting the valve so that assoon as the handle'is released the valve will close shutting off afurther supply of water. Water will therefore be supplied only so longas the handle is depressed and therefore the amount of water used may becontrolled. Conversely, when the handle member 47 is in its secondposition, the valve 22 maybe raised sufiiciently high by rotation of thehandle so that the water flowing across the undersidewill keep the valveoff its seat until all the water in the tank has been discharged wherebya full flush is obtained as in conventional practice.

It will be seen thatthe invention provides an extremely simple andefficient dual flush control which may be mounted in existing flushtanks without modification of the tank or valve system being necessary.

It will be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown anddescribed is a preferred example and that various modifications may becarried out without departing from the spirit of the inventionor thescope of the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A flush tank control comprising a sleeve member for insertion throughthe wall of a flush tank and having inner and outer ends; an abutment onthe sleeve member adjacent to one of said ends thereof and projectingaxially therefrom; a handle member having inner and outer ends andsupported within the sleeve member to extend from said one end thereofand to be rotatable and axially slidable relative thereto; an abutmenton the handle member adjacent to one of said ends thereof; the abutmentson said members being at corresponding ends thereof; the handle memberbeing slidable within the sleeve member between a first axial position,in which the abutments coact during rotation of the handle member in thesleeve member to limit said rotation, and a second axial position inwhich the abutments pass clear of one another during rotation of thehandle member in the sleeve member; means at the inner end of the handlemember to receive an arm connected to the valve of the flush tank; andelastic means interposed between the bandle member and the sleeve memberto urge the handle member to one of said positions.

2. A flush tank control comprising a sleeve member for insertion throughthe wall of a flush tank and having inner and outer ends; an abutment onthe sleeve member adjacent to the outer end thereof and projectingaxially therefiom; a handle member having inner andouter ends andsupported within the sleeve member to extend from the outer end thereofandto be rotatable and axially slidable relative thereto; an abutment onthe handle member adjacent to the outer end thereof; the handle memberbeing slidable within the sleeve member between a first axial position,in which the abutments coact during rotation of the handle member in thesleeve member to limit said rotation, and a second--axial position inwhich the abutments pass clear of one another during rotation of thehandle member in the sleeve member; means at the inner end of the handlemember to receive an arm connected to the valve of the flush tank; andelastic means interposed between the handle member and the sleeve memberto urge the handle member to one of said positions.

3. A flush tank control comprising a sleeve member for insertion througha wall of a flush tank and having inner and outer ends; an abutment onthe sleeve member adjacent to the outer end thereof and projectingaxially therefrom; a shaft having inner and outer ends and being!journalled in the sleeve member to extend from the outer;

end thereof and to be axially slidable relative theretofl a handlesecured to the outer end of the shaft; an abutment on the handle; theshaft being axially slidable within the sleeve member between a firstaxial position, in which the abutments coact during rotation *of theshaft in the sleeve member to limit said rotation, and a second axialposition in which the abutments pass clear of one another duringrotation of the shaft in the sleeve member; an arm secured to the innerend of the shaft for connection to the valve of the flush tank; andelastic means interposed between the handle and the sleeve to urge theshaft with the associated handle to one of said positions.

4. A flush tank control comprising a sleeve member for insertion througha wall of a flush tank and having inner and outer ends; an abutment onthe sleeve member adjacent to the outer end thereof and projectingaxially therefrom; a shaft having inner and outer ends and beingjournalled in the sleeve member to extend from the outer end thereof andto be rotatable and axially slidable relative thereto; a handle securedto the outer end of the shaft; a hollow domed portion on the handlearranged to fit over the outer end of the sleeve member; a rib withinsaid domed portion to provide an abutment; the shaft being axiallyslidable within the sleeve member between a first axial position, inwhich the abutments coaot during rotation of the shaft in the sleevemember to limit said rotation, and a second axial position in which theabutments pass clear of one another during rotation of the shaft in thesleeve member; an arm secured to the inner end of the shaft forconnection to the valve of the flush tank; and elastic means interposedbetween the handle and the sleeve to urge the shaft with the associatedhandle to one of said positions.

5. A flush tank control according to claim 4, wherein said rib isprovided with an aperture and the abutment adjacent to the outer end ofthe sleeve member is a curved arm, and wherein when the shaft is in itssecond position the end portion of the curved arm passes through theaperture during rotation of the handle while in the first position ofthe shaft the end of the curved arm abuts the rib upon rotation of theshaft. I

No references cited.

